skyDSL, Eutelsat enter agreement for satellite broadband capacity from KA-SAT

German satellite Internet services provider skyDSL Global GmbH has ssigned a new five-year contract with satellite operator Eutelsat for multiple spotbeam capacity on the KA-SAT satellite broadband platform. The contract also includes an option for an extra five years.

The agreement allows skyDSL to access selected service areas of KA-SAT, increasing the rate of its deployment of consumer satellite broadband services throughout Europe.

skyDSL possesses more than a decade's worth of experience in delivering high-quality Internet on satellite solutions. This includes 18 months of providing satellite broadband services through the KA-SAT satellite operated by Eutelsat.

Based in Berlin, the Company's skyDSL2+ brand offers a portfolio of Internet access and triple play services to customers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and the Benelux. Its diverse sales channels commercialize services with download speeds of up to 20 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 6 Mbps. SkyDLS customers include consumers, small businesses, utility providers, industrial companies, government and aid intervention agencies.

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Yahsat, truIT join forces to offer YahClick satellite broadband in Uganda

A recent partnership between Yahsat and TruIT will introduce the YahClick satellite broadband service in Uganda.

YahClick is a high-capacity Internet from satellite service that will deliver connectivity to Ugandan consumers in the home, banking, construction, educational, government, healthcare, manufacturing, media, NGOs, and oil and gas markets.

TruIT plans to fill the gap in broadband coverage in the remote and underserved regions of Uganda with the help of Yahsat and its YahClick satellite broadband service.

First founded as a web design and hosting company, TruIT has transformed itself into a provider of IT integration services. It received a public service provider license from the Uganda Communications Commission back in December 2012, allowing the Company to offer voice and data services to Ugandan customers.

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RuSat debuts new VSAT satellite broadband solution in Russia

Russian satellite service provider RuSat reported the debut of a new satellite broadband service that leveraged the newest VSAT hub and end-user terminal technology from Newtec.

The new RuSat service will tap the Yamal-402 satellite deployed by Gazprom Space Systems back in December 2012 to deliver fast and affordable satellite broadband connectivity throughout the entirety of Russia, where VSAT services had previously been expensive and limited in coverage.

The Newtec VSAT terminals will initially use Ku-band. Upgrading their interactive LNB will allow them to use Ka band without the need to adapt hardware to the satellite modem or the antenna.

RuSat already has its first customer for its satellite broadband service. Internet service provider Raduga Internet will provide the consumer market with satellite Internet services using RuSat's solution. 

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NETC telehealth clinics tap Hughes for satellite broadband access

Hughes Network Systems has signed a four-year contract with the New England Telehealth Consortium (NETC) for the provision of high-speed satellite broadband services to mobile telehealth clinics in the rural communities of Northern New England.

As part of the agreement, Hughes will supply routers with integrated auto-deploy antenna developed by AvL Technologies. The routers will enable services such as video conferencing, prescription dispensing, voice calls, transfer of electronic health records, viewing of digital images, telemedicine, and digital messaging.

Hughes will leverage capacity from its Spaceway 3 broadband satellite to generate the high-speed satellite Internet connectivity needed by the NETC service area.

A federally-funded consortium of healthcare providers, NETC serves more than 400 clinics in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The private telecommunications network it is building will allow healthcare providers to access the newest advances in research and medicine, remote medical diagnostics and surgery, dentistry, and behavioral health treatment. It also allows for the swift sharing of medical records between clinics.

Satellite broadband access will enhance telemedicine and information sharing, ensuring that that telehealth services deliver the finest of care to rural patients.

Easier licensing requirements for in-flight service providers courtesy FCC

Thanks to a recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC,) in-flight satellite broadband Internet service providers will now have an easier time to accomplish their licensing requirements.

The FCC issued new in-flight regulations that identified two mobile applications to be licensed applications of fixed-satellite service. The applications are Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft and vehicle-mounted earth stations that deliver satellite communications to airborne and terrestrial vehicles.

The new regulations will make it faster for the FCC to process applications by up to 50 percent faster. Previously, the FCC had issued authorizations for companies to offer such services on an ad hoc basis.

The regulations will also improve competition amongst in-flight service providers, who provide satellite broadband and other services to passengers and crew alike.

For the FCC, the in-flight market was a big part of the mobile telecommunications market in the United States as it promoted the widespread availability of Internet access to aircraft passengers.

In-flight communications regulation is the purview of the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

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MP champions rural areas in British push for national broadband

A member of the British Parliament urges the government to devote special attention to rural areas plagued with abysmal ADSL connections for its national broadband plan.

MP Graham Stuart, the representative of Beverley and Holderness, has encouraged his constituents to raise whatever issue they have with their access to fast and reliable Internet.

In an interview with ITV News, Mr. Stuart expressed his belief that the government must assist regions that lack a strong commercial incentive to provide broadband. This can come in the form of more traditional optic fiber and wireless services, as well as the new satellite Internet option.

Mr. Stuart took heart in the recent decision by the European Union to approve Britain's plan to provide broadband connectivity to rural regions. The MP urged that the government begin ensuring broadband access in rural areas within the East Riding.

There is a concern that small and medium-sized enterprises in Britain might lag behind their foreign counterparts if they do not receive a chance to partake of the digital advancements of recent years, innovations such as broadband Internet by satellite and other, more traditional ways of delivering connectivity.

DirecTV announces pricing, discount for ViaSat satellite Internet bundles

DirecTV recently revealed the pricing for its Exede satellite broadband bundle provided by ViaSat. In addition, it decided to promote its new high-speed satellite Internet service by implementing a $10 monthly discount across the board.

According to DirecTV, the monthly price for the 12 Mbps Exede satellite broadband service will be $39.99 for 10GB of data, $69.99 for 15GB, and $119.99 for 25GB.

The $10 discount will apply for the first half of a two-year contract. Customers will must sign up for the Exede satellite Internet bundle before January 31, 2013.

As a further incentive, DirecTV will also refund the $49.99 installation fee.

Satellite broadband companies generally impose data caps on customers' satellite Internet bundles. To compensate for those data caps, DirectTV will allow Exede users to access the Internet between midnight and 5 A.M. Using the Internet during such off-hours will not count against their data cap. This is best used to deal with any streaming needs such as Windows updates.

Cisco partners with Inmarsat, builds satellite service delivery platform

Inmarsat and Cisco recently announced that they are entering a long-term Global Partnership. The two companies will use Inmarsat’s Global Xpress satellite broadband network to deliver applications, business collaboration, video-to-multimedia content, and other advanced satellite communications services.

Cisco will develop a satellite applications service delivery platform and an access network for Global Xpress that will take advantage of the Inmarsat network’s capability to provide mobile Ka-band connectivity. Cisco will also create a router that satellite network end-users can use to access both the GX Ka-band network  and the BGAN L-band network.

The Cisco-designed network is scheduled to be introduced in 2014. Before it is turned over to Inmarsat, the new satellite network will be operated by Cisco on a fully managed basis. Advanced network capabilities such as voice, video, cloud application services and high speed Internet access will be enabled by Cisco’s Service Delivery Platform and Prime software stacks.

Inmarsat and its partners will develop and remotely deploy innovative applications on Cisco’s GX/BGAN integrated platform, which will deliver the new services across the entire Inmarsat network.

According to Rupert Pearce, Chief Executive Officer of Inmarsat plc, the Company’s Partnership with Cisco was an important part of Inmarsat’s future plans. Cisco will create world-class infrastructure that Inmarsat and the latter’s partners can use to offer services not limited to providing Internet-from-satellite connectivity.

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Dish Network debuts dishNET satellite broadband service

Starting this October, Dish Network will be bringing their much-touted Ku-band satellite broadband services to American customers. Its new Internet-from-satellite service is called dishNET and is rolled into Dish’s satellite TV service. Customers who subscribe to both services will get a monthly discount of $10.

In an announcement, Mr. Joseph Clayton, CEO of Dish Network, said that the company was launching a “revolutionary” consumer broadband service that will bring high-speed Internet to rural markets nationwide. “With nearly one-in-four rural residents lacking a high-speed connection, reaching these underserved markets is vital,” he explained. “Our mission is to provide broadband at an outstanding value with fast speeds and large data plans.”

The basic dishNET package offers 5 Mbps download speeds and 1 Mbps upload speeds with a monthly data plan that maxes out at 10 GB. It costs $39.99 a month. Dish’s other satellite broadband Internet service offers double the download speed (10 Mbps) and a maximum data plan of 20 GB while retaining the same 1 Mbps upload speed. The second plan costs an extra $10.

Dish has been able to decrease the price of satellite broadband to make it more economically accessible for rural areas that have made do with DSL connections for the past decade. In addition, dishNET uses the well-established Ku-band to deliver high speeds.

For those leery of inclement weather and other disruptions cutting off their Internet-by-satellite connectivity, Dish Network also offers a wired broadband solution. The most expensive of the three wired options costs as much as the basic dishNET service and has double the download speed and a bigger data plan. Of course, this particular set of broadband Internet options requires a landline connection in the first place.

The new high-speed Internet-on-satellite service will be available wherever Dish Network can deliver its service. Coincidentally, Dish has nationwide coverage, including plenty of rural communities that can now enjoy faster Internet speeds thanks to Dish's new satellite broadband solution.

Honywell, Thales integrating Global Xpress systems for in-flight Internet

Honeywell and Thales Alenia Space issued a joint announcement on September 21 regarding their newly-formed partnership. Honeywell will integrate the avionics and satellite antenna systems of its Inmarsat Global Xpress service with Thales’ cabin network solutions to create a Ka-band in-flight connectivity service.

Honeywell and Thales will leverage the Ka-band broadband capacity of Global Express to offer in-flight connectivity bandwidth of up to four times greater than the current standard. The Inmarsat satellite Internet service will allow for media-rich applications such as virtual office capability, video conferencing, real-time satellite TV channel viewing, and social media connectivity. It will also reportedly be more cost-effective than competitors' in-flight Internet services.

The three Global Xpress Ka-band satellites are currently being built at aerospace company Boeing's facilities in El Segundo, California. The first satellite has been scheduled for a 2013 launch.

Hughes providing HX System 4.0 backhaul solution to Latin American telecom operator

Hughes Network Systems announced that it will be supplying the latest HX System backhaul solution to a large Latin American telecommunications operator. The backhaul update will allow the Latin American telecom to expand the coverage of its GSM and WiMAX wireless voice and data services, letting it serve customers in remote regions.

Hughes has provided the HughesNet high-speed satellite Internet service and associated systems to over 2.8 million users in 100 nations. The satellite broadband provider's Solutions include IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A, and GMR-1.

Hughes' solutions have received approvals from the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI,) International Telecommunications Union (ITU,) and other similar standardization bodies.

The Latin American telecommunications operator previously acquired the HX System in 2009 as an upgrade of its existing DVB-S network to Hughes' enhanced DVB-S2 platform. Hughes' HX System backhaul solution provided the telecom enterprise with better voice quality and high data throughputs through a combination of a dynamic bandwidth allocation protocol and low traffic latency and jitter.

More than one million satellite broadband terminal sites use the HX System satellite networking infrastructure. The system is fully compliant with the IP over Satellite (IPoS) global standard. Its latest version is the HX System 4.0 platform, which Hughes will use to upgrade the Latin American telecom customer's network.

Recently released by Hughes, the 4.0 version of the HX System offers high-speed IP services over satellite. It is fully compatible with various multi-media, video, data, and voice applications.